Sunday, September 30, 2012

Melbourne is celebrating its second NRL Premiership after beating the Bulldogs 14-4 in the NRL Grand Final at a packed ANZ Stadium.
In a fiery match that was marred by a biting allegation, the Storm held on with an impressive defensive performance to keep the Bulldogs scoreless in the second half.

Baccarat deals big profit for Crown...

James Packer's strategy to lure Asian high-rollers to his revamped Crown Perth entertainment complex appears to be paying off in spectacular style after the casino's gross gaming revenue leapt 25 per cent to a record $634 million last financial year.
And it was baccarat, a card game wildly popular with Asian gamblers and the game of choice for so-called "whales", or wealthy high-stakes punters, that was almost solely responsible for the bumper result.
Figures contained in the Gaming and Wagering Commission's annual report, tabled in State Parliament this week, shed light on Mr Packer's Perth gambling operation that is not provided in Crown's reports to the Australian stock exchange.
They showed that gross revenue from gaming machines, blackjack, roulette and other casino games was only marginally up in 2011-12 compared with the previous financial year.
Attendance at the casino and the number of gaming machines and tables were virtually unchanged.
But gross revenue from baccarat exploded, doubling to $245 million.
The record gaming revenue delivered $106 million in gambling taxes to State Government coffers.
Crown did not comment on the figures, but casino operators in Las Vegas and Macau have relied increasingly on baccarat, a game of chance, to land the "whales" that can make or break a casino gaming operation.
The Gaming and Wagering Commission, which regulates the operation of Crown Perth, will soon be asked to decide on Crown's application for an extra 500 gaming machines and 130 gaming tables, an application the State Government has indicated it will not oppose as part of a deal for Crown to build a new 500-room, six-star hotel. (The West Australian)

More trouble for Star City Casino owners' board...

ALAN KOHLER, PRESENTER: More ructions at the Echo Entertainment company, the one that owns the Star City casino in Sydney.
Another board member, Brett Paton, quit this week and CEO Larry Mullin will leave in January.
It looks to be falling apart, that place. And James Packer mustn't be able to believe his luck.
So why was - what happened with Larry Mullin? Got sacked?
ADELE FERGUSON, COMMENTATOR, THE AGE AND SMH: Well it appears to be so, despite the spin around it. They had a meeting on the Tuesday and the decision was made with - it was unanimous except for one director that he should go and the one director that was backing him resigned on the Wednesday.
ALAN KOHLER: So is it good for Packer or not?
ADELE FERGUSON: I think it is good for Packer because he's been pushing the line that Echo isn’t run very well, it hasn't got control of its finances - they had to have a big equity raising recently. So, yes, it sort of plays into Packer's hands, disruption, board unstable. There was a piece in the newspapers saying dysfunctional board.
ALAN KOHLER: Yes. But Packer's obviously playing a long game to become the casino operator in Sydney as well as in Melbourne, right?
IVOR RIES, SENIOR RESEARCH ANALYST, WILSOM HTM: Australia's casino king.
ALAN KOHLER: Australia's casino king. He's patient. I mean, he could just launch a takeover offer for Echo, but he doesn't want to pay the money.
ADELE FERGUSON: Well he’s - at the moment he's applied ...
ALAN KOHLER: He’s applied, yes.
ADELE FERGUSON: ... to go to 25 per cent. He has to get permission for that. So he’s not going to be screaming out, "I want to make a takeover bid" because the share price would go right up. So he's putting out that - a joint venture, and maybe that’s one of the options. If that doesn't work, then there possibly would be a takeover bid.
IVOR RIES: And trying to go past 25 per cent, doesn't there have to be some sort of Government inquiry or something into whether he's allowed to do that or not?
ADELE FERGUSON: Well, there’s already the Government inquiry into him going to 25 per cent. Any time they have to go above in 5 per cent increments ...
IVOR RIES: So it’s not going to be resolved overnight. It’s going to take a - be a long, slow process.
ADELE FERGUSON: That’s right. And he would not want the share price to be running away. (ABC)

Gooogle has become the US market leader in online display ads, and now leads all categories for internet advertising including search and mobile, a market research firm said today.
The firm eMarketer said Google will top the market for online display advertising with $US2.31 billion ($2.2 billion) in revenues -- 15.4 per cent of the market -- in 2012.
Google will thus overtake Facebook in display, after the social network dethroned longtime leader Yahoo! last year, eMarketer said.
The milestone means Google now holds more share than any other company in each of the US search, display and mobile advertising markets.
Google will see a 38 per cent jump in online display ad revenue this year, the report said.
Facebook, the consultancy said, will earn $US2.16 billion in US display ad revenues this year, up 24.4 per cent from billion last year. Facebook's share will be 14.4 per cent.
Yahoo! will see nearly flat revenues for display ads, which will mean its market share will fall to 9.3 per cent this year from 11 percent last year and 14 percent in 2010.
The eMarketer estimate said the overall US display ad market will grow 21.5 per cent to $US14.98 billion from $US12.33 billion in 2011, aided by mobile growth; and increased spending growth on digital video advertising, especially on Google-owned YouTube.

Renner: Avengers stunts were blast'...

Jeremy Renner has raved about his time in Hollywood blockbuster Avengers Assemble - because he loved the catering.
The Hurt Locker star plays Hawkeye in director Joss Whedon's action movie, which also stars Robert Downey Jr, Samuel L Jackson and Mark Ruffalo.
Jeremy revealed: "Shooting the Avengers was a blast... there's much better food on set."
Of the stunts and training, Jeremy admitted: "I actually didn't have to do very much archery training because I was using CGI arrows and I was shooting CGI monsters."
He added: "It's like learning a new language or a dance."
Co-star Tom Hiddleston, who plays villain Loki, also expressed his joy at the film's action scenes.
He said: "I love doing the stunts and flying around on wires. At the very beginning, the first I had to do was jump off a platform, do a 30-foot leap and spear somebody in the chest.
"Joss [Whedon] wanted me to fly beyond the horizontal, so they attached a harness to me under my costume, which enabled me to dive headfirst towards the camera. I felt like I was part of a circus trapeze act! It was fantastic."
Avengers Assemble is out now on DVD.

Joss Whedon: 'The Avengers isn't a perfect movie'...

Joss Whedon has claimed that The Avengers isn't "a great movie".

The film has met with critical acclaim and outstanding commercial success, becoming the third highest-grossing film of all time in just a few months, but Whedon, the superhero blockbuster's writer and director, is determined to keep his feet on the ground.

In an interview with Vulture, the 48-year-old claimed that the box office numbers became, ultimately, "meaningless".

He said: "They're large, and you can't really count that high."

Describing what his goals were with The Avengers, he claimed: "I felt like I had a particular mission in making what I felt was a slightly old-fashioned movie, because I grew up wanting to make summer movies and wanting to make superhero movies, and I got to do both at once.

"I felt like summer movies haven't been what I remember them to be, so I felt like I would love to evoke something that's less hip and ironic and more heartfelt and character-driven, and apparently, other people cared about that in a large way."

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly creator then conceded: "I don't think it's a perfect movie. I don't even think it's a great movie. I think it's a great time, and I'm proud of it, but for me, what was exciting is that people don't go to see a movie that many times unless it's pulling on something from within, unless there's a need there. That's very gratifying."

The film is set to increase its box office even further this weekend, after being re-released in the US to take advantage of the Labour Day holiday.

Whedon will oversee a Marvel-produced SHIELD television show for ABC, before starting work on the Avengers sequel, due for a summer 2015 release.

The Avengers Crosses $1.5 Billion At Worldwide Box Office...

While the re-release of The Avengers at the U.S. box office might have failed to break into the top ten Labor Day weekend movies, it did help The Avengers reach another major milestone. The Avengers has become the third movie in history to cross the $1.5 billion mark at the worldwide box office.

While retaining its number three position on the worldwide box office list, The Avengers took in another estimated $1.7 million over Labor Day weekend, which brought The Avengers U.S. box office total to $619.5 million and The Avengers worldwide box office total to $1.501 billion.

Interestingly enough, The Dark Knight Rises also reached a milestone today, surpassing $1 billion at the worldwide box office, which means that combined The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises have accounted for $2.5 billion at the worldwide box office this year. If you add in The Amazing Spider-Man, which currently sits at number four on the 2012 worldwide box office list with $734.9 million, then the total rises to $3.2 billion. It’s definitely a good time to be in the superhero movie making business.

bwin.party to Be Taken Over?...

The London and Vienna-listed gambling group is said to be an acquisition target.
The Austrian-British sport betting company may be taken over, the newspaper “Guardian” says. According to rumors, there are three potential buyers. One of them is the Malaysian Genting, a second one should be an Australian betting company. The third potential buyer is a financial investor, insiders say.
Bwin.party is expected to record net losses this year. In its half year report for the six months ended 30 June 2012, a solid growth in Clean EBITDA (+13%) was recorded. Losses were down from € 41m to € 21.3m.

Bwin.party losing its poker face...

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Online gaming titan bwin.party says revenues in the first half of 2012 grew at its casino and gaming offerings but poker has been hit by strong competitors and difficulties in southern Europe.

The group was formed last year by the merger between German outfit bwin Interactive Entertainment and British firm PartyGaming and still has co-Chief Executives Norbert Teufelberger and Jim Ryan.

On a pro forma basis (comparing the results of both companies before the merger), total revenue increased by 3% to €410.0m (2011: €398.0m). This was achieved despite an 11% increase in gaming taxes so that the pro forma “clean” earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 13% to €92.3m (2011: €81.9m). This is better than the forecast of €89m made by analysts at Peel Hunt.

Bwin.party has also had to take a nasty one-off charge of €31.5m after the Spanish authorities contacted all of the major online gaming operators making clear any online operator that had ever accepted customers from Spain had an obligation to pay Spanish taxes.

The group offers four online “experiences”: sports betting produced revenues of €128.1m in the first half, versus €125.7m in 2011; casino and games delivered €139.7m, against €124.3m in the prior year; bingo was down from €33m to €31.5m; while the weakest performance was from poker, which fell from €104.9m to €96.4m.

In a joint statement, Ryan and Teufelberger said they were "determined to return [poker] to growth through execution of a detailed plan that includes pooling our poker liquidity as well as repositioning our flagship PartyPoker brand.”

The interim dividend has been increased by 10% to 1.72p per share although the company warned that net gaming revenue since June has fallen 8% as the end of the Euro 2012 Championships and a late start to the Bundesliga hit takings.

Check out PartyCasino via the Media Man network for more on this exciting new slot game which can be played for free or played for money. Bwin.Party is one of the most financially stable gaming companies on the planet and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. They also high security and high excitment online poker, sports betting and more.

New Trailer For Marvel Heroes...

Gazillion Entertainment is proud to show off a new trailer for Marvel Heroes. The new trailer announces 3 new playable heroes in the game – Daredevil, Punisher, and Squirrel Girl. The trailer made its debut at the Marvel Heroes panel at PAX 2012. The panel featured Gazillion President David Brevik (one of the creators of Diablo!), legendary Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man! Avengers vs. X-Men! And) and Marvel’s mighty VP of Games Production TQ Jefferson. If you look closely, you’ll also see a bunch of villains were also revealed in the trailer, including Mr. Fisk the notorious crime lord.

Marvel Heroes is a FREE-TO-PLAY action-packed massively multiplayer online game created by David Brevik, the visionary behind Diablo and Diablo 2. Set in the iconic Marvel Universe, Marvel Heroes combines the core game-play style of Diablo and MMOs with the expansive library of heroes from the Marvel Universe. In the game, players can collect and play as their favorite Marvel Superheroes (including Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, Hulk, Spider Man, Captain America and many others). Team up with friends and try to stop Doctor Doom from devastating the world with the power of the Cosmic Cube in a story crafted by comic-book super-scribe Brian Michael Bendis.

Echo Entertainment has risked further antagonising its key investors with the shock decision to replace chief executive Larry Mullin in a bid to repair damaged relations with the NSW government and bring a more operational focus to the management of the embattled casino group.
The board's decision agreed over the past week to replace Mr Mullin, which is understood to have also prompted the surprise resignation of long-serving director Brett Paton on Tuesday, was yesterday questioned by some of Echo's institutional investors who were taken by surprise by the decision.

Most of Crown's senior executives received pay rises last financial year despite a rejection of the previous year's pay policy by shareholders.
Casino operator Crown has made no changes to its executive pay policy despite the threat of a board spill in the event of another shareholder backlash.
Four of the company's six senior executives received a larger pay package in the 2011/12 financial year, and all base salaries rose or remained the same as in 2010/11.
Crown's executive pay report for the 2010/11 financial year received a 55 per cent `no' vote from Crown shareholders, and a `no' vote of at least 25 per cent against the 2011/12 report would result in the majority of board positions being vacated and put up for re-election.
But Crown said in its 2011/12 annual report, released on Wednesday, it had made no change to its pay policy and had instead focused on providing a clearer explanation of its pay structure.
"The Crown board remains confident that Crown's remuneration policy and the level and structure of its executive remuneration are suitable for the company and its shareholders," it said in the report.
Chief executive Rowen Craigie was paid $6.875 million in the 2011/12 financial year, including a bonus of $800,000, up from $600,000 in the previous year.
Mr Craigie's remuneration totalled $7.7 million in 2010/11, due to the inclusion of a $1 million benefit from the revaluation of share-based long-term incentives.
His base salary remained stable at $2.98 million in 2011/12.
Executive deputy chairman John Alexander's total remuneration also remained steady, at $1.5 million.
Chief financial officer Ken Barton, Burswood CEO Barry Felstead, Crown Melbourne deputy CEO Greg Hawkins and executive vice president of strategy Todd Nisbet all received an increase in salary and total pay in 2011/12.
Executive chairman James Packer receives no remuneration or bonuses from Crown.
In the event of a board spill, Mr Packer could use his major stake in the company to effectively ensure the re-election of those board members forced to vacate their positions.
Crown shareholders will vote on the report at the company's annual general meeting on October 30.

A Star casino spokesman has confirmed Mr Mullin will leave his job on January 31 “by mutual agreement” with the board of Echo Entertainment, the parent company of The Star.
He will be leaving the job almost one year to the day after the man he brought in to run the Star, Sid Vaikunta, was sacked over a sexual harassment scandal.
The casino spokesman said Mr Mullin was from America and had not intended to stay in Australia forever.
He denied it was linked to the Vaikunta scandal or attempts at a takeover by billionaire James Packer.
Since Vaikunta quit, the board has rolled chairman John Story in favour of John O’Neill, another non-executive director Brett Paton left this week and now Mr Mullin is departing.

Brooklyn, Barclays Center bracing to steal show...

Consider Madison Square Garden on watch.
Luring the Nets from New Jersey was only Step 1 in Brooklyn's metamorphosis into an entertainment hot spot. Next up for the borough, a ruthless bid in stealing the spotlight and the stars from MSG, New Jersey's Prudential Center, and any other venue that books boldface names in music and sports.
There's a new kid in town, folks, a state-of-the-art arena in Brooklyn that is gobbling up acts at an alarming rate.
Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Andrea Bocelli are just a few of the marquee attractions coming to the new Barclays Center, a facility that will house the NBA's Brooklyn Nets and so much more.
College basketball is on the way, as are the Harlem Globetrotters and World Wrestling Entertainment, and before the lockout was announced, an NHL preseason game was even on tap. Indeed, it appears Barclays has balance and boom in its acts, and will stop at nothing as it quickly makes a sudden statement that it is a desired destination in an attractive borough.
And the other facilities in and around New York may never be the same again.
"In the past, Brooklynites had to leave our borough for world-class entertainment and sports and head over to Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Nassau County ... Newark or East Rutherford," Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said. "Hello. Not anymore."
Brooklyn is going hard and if this current clip keeps up, it may become the No. 1 tour stop in the region. Jay-Z, the Nets' part owner and hip-hop icon, will christen the Barclays Center with eight sold-out shows opening Friday. Holla!
"Without Brooklyn, I wouldn't be standing here right now," Jay-Z said at a Barclays Center press conference.
He's not alone. Barbra Streisand, a Brooklyn native like Jay-Z, will perform for the first time in her native borough Oct. 11.
These megastar acts will raise the curtain on what Barclays expects to become a 220-event-a-year center, and create a little competition with the world's most famous arena. The budding Barclays-MSG bidding war, in fact, is already more heated than the Knicks-Nets rivalry.
The Golden Gloves finals dumped MSG for the first time in its 86-year history for the 19,000-seat Barclays. Bocelli had played nine straight holiday shows at MSG before bolting this year for a Dec. 5 concert at Barclays.
Other defections from MSG and New Jersey arenas include college basketball's Coaches vs. Cancer tournament, the Legends Classic and the Atlantic 10 tournament.
But without question, none of the other facilities are intimidated by Brooklyn. This is after all, the New York market we're talking about, and there will always be plenty of acts to book.
Robert Sommer, president of Rock Entertainment Management at the Prudential Center, declined comment. And MSG insists it doesn't feel threatened by the younger, hipper arena at all.
"While we always respect any competition, The Garden will always be The Garden," MSG President and CEO Hank Ratner said. "Madison Square Garden is located in the heart of New York City, sitting on top of the busiest transportation hub in the nation, and has been a destination for New Yorkers and visitors to the city for over 130 years. The Garden is New York's living room, we host over 400 events annually, and are in the midst of a comprehensive, top-to-bottom transformation that has already received amazing feedback from fans."
The world's most famous arena underwent an $850 million upgrade that gutted the arena from the ground up — all without changing the building's familiar hatbox-shaped exterior. Madison Square Garden was completed in 1968 and had not had a major upgrade since 1991.
And, let's not forget, the Garden is the Garden.
There's no price tag, after all, on the legendary sports moments and the iconic concerts that called MSG home. Ali vs. Frazier. Willis Reed limping through the tunnel and onto the court for the 1970 NBA Finals. Mark Messier and Stephane Matteau leading the Rangers to the Stanley Cup in 1994. Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen rocking the joint. Ricky Nelson's Garden Party.
On and on.
"You can bring a new venue into another borough, but you can't erase history," said Sammy Steinlight, a former MSG executive, now of Steinlight Media. "You can't just instantly have a brand. It takes time, it takes years. It takes really special and unique moments created over time."
Barclays is trying to speed up the pace. Yet, not every act is choosing only one stage.
The Who is booked to play Nov. 14 at Barclays, Dec. 5 at Madison Square Garden, and Dec. 6 at the five-year-old Prudential Center in Newark. While WWE remained committed to booking events at Madison Square Garden, the WWE's own Brooklyn Brawler should feel at home when the sports-entertainment promotion holds its monthly pay-per-view event Dec. 16 at Barclays.
There are plenty of entertainment dollars to spread around, of course. Brooklyn's population of 2.5 million is the largest of the city's five boroughs, and is home to $3 million condominiums and four-star restaurants. The New York metropolitan area is so massive, there should be enough acts and dates for both.
Barclays' honeymoon period will eventually fade. But for now, business should boom — especially with top tickets hitting $600 for Streisand at face value.
"Because the building is new, artists know the level of business they can do is higher at a brand new building," said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the trade publication Pollstar. "The fact that it's new on the market means that the local population will turn out in great numbers, great force than you would otherwise see. That means more money in the artist's pocket."
In a bustling market, the two arenas should be able to play nice. But bidding wars could spark for the top-dollar stars.
The Minneapolis Target Center and the St. Paul Xcel Energy Center are separated by 10 miles from one Twin City to the other. The buildings regularly fiercely compete to land selected artists, a boon for concert promoters looking to keep down costs.
"Concert promoters are certainly aware of the two buildings and they'll often bid the two buildings against each other," said Jeff Pellegrom, chief financial officer of Minnesota Sports and Entertainment, the company that runs the Xcel Center. "They'll lock or hold dates in the two different arenas and then they'll look for the best financial deal they can get. I don't blame them for this, by the way. It makes perfect sense."
The Nets, the vibrant arena's anchor tenant, are focused on settling into their sparkling $1 billion digs and not the calendar of events at Madison Square Garden.
"We don't concern ourselves with being better than what they do or what the Garden does," Nets general manager Billy King said. "We have a new building and we're excited about being there."
So, it seems, is the rest of the entertainment industry. (MSG)

Gooogle has become the US market leader in online display ads, and now leads all categories for internet advertising including search and mobile, a market research firm said today.
The firm eMarketer said Google will top the market for online display advertising with $US2.31 billion ($2.2 billion) in revenues -- 15.4 per cent of the market -- in 2012.
Google will thus overtake Facebook in display, after the social network dethroned longtime leader Yahoo! last year, eMarketer said.
The milestone means Google now holds more share than any other company in each of the US search, display and mobile advertising markets.
Google will see a 38 per cent jump in online display ad revenue this year, the report said.
Facebook, the consultancy said, will earn $US2.16 billion in US display ad revenues this year, up 24.4 per cent from billion last year. Facebook's share will be 14.4 per cent.
Yahoo! will see nearly flat revenues for display ads, which will mean its market share will fall to 9.3 per cent this year from 11 percent last year and 14 percent in 2010.
The eMarketer estimate said the overall US display ad market will grow 21.5 per cent to $US14.98 billion from $US12.33 billion in 2011, aided by mobile growth; and increased spending growth on digital video advertising, especially on Google-owned YouTube.

Renner: Avengers stunts were blast'...

Jeremy Renner has raved about his time in Hollywood blockbuster Avengers Assemble - because he loved the catering.
The Hurt Locker star plays Hawkeye in director Joss Whedon's action movie, which also stars Robert Downey Jr, Samuel L Jackson and Mark Ruffalo.
Jeremy revealed: "Shooting the Avengers was a blast... there's much better food on set."
Of the stunts and training, Jeremy admitted: "I actually didn't have to do very much archery training because I was using CGI arrows and I was shooting CGI monsters."
He added: "It's like learning a new language or a dance."
Co-star Tom Hiddleston, who plays villain Loki, also expressed his joy at the film's action scenes.
He said: "I love doing the stunts and flying around on wires. At the very beginning, the first I had to do was jump off a platform, do a 30-foot leap and spear somebody in the chest.
"Joss [Whedon] wanted me to fly beyond the horizontal, so they attached a harness to me under my costume, which enabled me to dive headfirst towards the camera. I felt like I was part of a circus trapeze act! It was fantastic."
Avengers Assemble is out now on DVD.

Joss Whedon: 'The Avengers isn't a perfect movie'...

Joss Whedon has claimed that The Avengers isn't "a great movie".

The film has met with critical acclaim and outstanding commercial success, becoming the third highest-grossing film of all time in just a few months, but Whedon, the superhero blockbuster's writer and director, is determined to keep his feet on the ground.

In an interview with Vulture, the 48-year-old claimed that the box office numbers became, ultimately, "meaningless".

He said: "They're large, and you can't really count that high."

Describing what his goals were with The Avengers, he claimed: "I felt like I had a particular mission in making what I felt was a slightly old-fashioned movie, because I grew up wanting to make summer movies and wanting to make superhero movies, and I got to do both at once.

"I felt like summer movies haven't been what I remember them to be, so I felt like I would love to evoke something that's less hip and ironic and more heartfelt and character-driven, and apparently, other people cared about that in a large way."

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly creator then conceded: "I don't think it's a perfect movie. I don't even think it's a great movie. I think it's a great time, and I'm proud of it, but for me, what was exciting is that people don't go to see a movie that many times unless it's pulling on something from within, unless there's a need there. That's very gratifying."

The film is set to increase its box office even further this weekend, after being re-released in the US to take advantage of the Labour Day holiday.

Whedon will oversee a Marvel-produced SHIELD television show for ABC, before starting work on the Avengers sequel, due for a summer 2015 release.

The Avengers Crosses $1.5 Billion At Worldwide Box Office...

While the re-release of The Avengers at the U.S. box office might have failed to break into the top ten Labor Day weekend movies, it did help The Avengers reach another major milestone. The Avengers has become the third movie in history to cross the $1.5 billion mark at the worldwide box office.

While retaining its number three position on the worldwide box office list, The Avengers took in another estimated $1.7 million over Labor Day weekend, which brought The Avengers U.S. box office total to $619.5 million and The Avengers worldwide box office total to $1.501 billion.

Interestingly enough, The Dark Knight Rises also reached a milestone today, surpassing $1 billion at the worldwide box office, which means that combined The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises have accounted for $2.5 billion at the worldwide box office this year. If you add in The Amazing Spider-Man, which currently sits at number four on the 2012 worldwide box office list with $734.9 million, then the total rises to $3.2 billion. It’s definitely a good time to be in the superhero movie making business.

bwin.party to Be Taken Over?...

The London and Vienna-listed gambling group is said to be an acquisition target.
The Austrian-British sport betting company may be taken over, the newspaper “Guardian” says. According to rumors, there are three potential buyers. One of them is the Malaysian Genting, a second one should be an Australian betting company. The third potential buyer is a financial investor, insiders say.
Bwin.party is expected to record net losses this year. In its half year report for the six months ended 30 June 2012, a solid growth in Clean EBITDA (+13%) was recorded. Losses were down from € 41m to € 21.3m.

Bwin.party losing its poker face...

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Online gaming titan bwin.party says revenues in the first half of 2012 grew at its casino and gaming offerings but poker has been hit by strong competitors and difficulties in southern Europe.

The group was formed last year by the merger between German outfit bwin Interactive Entertainment and British firm PartyGaming and still has co-Chief Executives Norbert Teufelberger and Jim Ryan.

On a pro forma basis (comparing the results of both companies before the merger), total revenue increased by 3% to €410.0m (2011: €398.0m). This was achieved despite an 11% increase in gaming taxes so that the pro forma “clean” earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 13% to €92.3m (2011: €81.9m). This is better than the forecast of €89m made by analysts at Peel Hunt.

Bwin.party has also had to take a nasty one-off charge of €31.5m after the Spanish authorities contacted all of the major online gaming operators making clear any online operator that had ever accepted customers from Spain had an obligation to pay Spanish taxes.

The group offers four online “experiences”: sports betting produced revenues of €128.1m in the first half, versus €125.7m in 2011; casino and games delivered €139.7m, against €124.3m in the prior year; bingo was down from €33m to €31.5m; while the weakest performance was from poker, which fell from €104.9m to €96.4m.

In a joint statement, Ryan and Teufelberger said they were "determined to return [poker] to growth through execution of a detailed plan that includes pooling our poker liquidity as well as repositioning our flagship PartyPoker brand.”

The interim dividend has been increased by 10% to 1.72p per share although the company warned that net gaming revenue since June has fallen 8% as the end of the Euro 2012 Championships and a late start to the Bundesliga hit takings.

Check out PartyCasino via the Media Man network for more on this exciting new slot game which can be played for free or played for money. Bwin.Party is one of the most financially stable gaming companies on the planet and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. They also high security and high excitment online poker, sports betting and more.

New Trailer For Marvel Heroes...

Gazillion Entertainment is proud to show off a new trailer for Marvel Heroes. The new trailer announces 3 new playable heroes in the game – Daredevil, Punisher, and Squirrel Girl. The trailer made its debut at the Marvel Heroes panel at PAX 2012. The panel featured Gazillion President David Brevik (one of the creators of Diablo!), legendary Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man! Avengers vs. X-Men! And) and Marvel’s mighty VP of Games Production TQ Jefferson. If you look closely, you’ll also see a bunch of villains were also revealed in the trailer, including Mr. Fisk the notorious crime lord.

Marvel Heroes is a FREE-TO-PLAY action-packed massively multiplayer online game created by David Brevik, the visionary behind Diablo and Diablo 2. Set in the iconic Marvel Universe, Marvel Heroes combines the core game-play style of Diablo and MMOs with the expansive library of heroes from the Marvel Universe. In the game, players can collect and play as their favorite Marvel Superheroes (including Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, Hulk, Spider Man, Captain America and many others). Team up with friends and try to stop Doctor Doom from devastating the world with the power of the Cosmic Cube in a story crafted by comic-book super-scribe Brian Michael Bendis.

Echo Entertainment has risked further antagonising its key investors with the shock decision to replace chief executive Larry Mullin in a bid to repair damaged relations with the NSW government and bring a more operational focus to the management of the embattled casino group.
The board's decision agreed over the past week to replace Mr Mullin, which is understood to have also prompted the surprise resignation of long-serving director Brett Paton on Tuesday, was yesterday questioned by some of Echo's institutional investors who were taken by surprise by the decision.

Most of Crown's senior executives received pay rises last financial year despite a rejection of the previous year's pay policy by shareholders.
Casino operator Crown has made no changes to its executive pay policy despite the threat of a board spill in the event of another shareholder backlash.
Four of the company's six senior executives received a larger pay package in the 2011/12 financial year, and all base salaries rose or remained the same as in 2010/11.
Crown's executive pay report for the 2010/11 financial year received a 55 per cent `no' vote from Crown shareholders, and a `no' vote of at least 25 per cent against the 2011/12 report would result in the majority of board positions being vacated and put up for re-election.
But Crown said in its 2011/12 annual report, released on Wednesday, it had made no change to its pay policy and had instead focused on providing a clearer explanation of its pay structure.
"The Crown board remains confident that Crown's remuneration policy and the level and structure of its executive remuneration are suitable for the company and its shareholders," it said in the report.
Chief executive Rowen Craigie was paid $6.875 million in the 2011/12 financial year, including a bonus of $800,000, up from $600,000 in the previous year.
Mr Craigie's remuneration totalled $7.7 million in 2010/11, due to the inclusion of a $1 million benefit from the revaluation of share-based long-term incentives.
His base salary remained stable at $2.98 million in 2011/12.
Executive deputy chairman John Alexander's total remuneration also remained steady, at $1.5 million.
Chief financial officer Ken Barton, Burswood CEO Barry Felstead, Crown Melbourne deputy CEO Greg Hawkins and executive vice president of strategy Todd Nisbet all received an increase in salary and total pay in 2011/12.
Executive chairman James Packer receives no remuneration or bonuses from Crown.
In the event of a board spill, Mr Packer could use his major stake in the company to effectively ensure the re-election of those board members forced to vacate their positions.
Crown shareholders will vote on the report at the company's annual general meeting on October 30.

A Star casino spokesman has confirmed Mr Mullin will leave his job on January 31 “by mutual agreement” with the board of Echo Entertainment, the parent company of The Star.
He will be leaving the job almost one year to the day after the man he brought in to run the Star, Sid Vaikunta, was sacked over a sexual harassment scandal.
The casino spokesman said Mr Mullin was from America and had not intended to stay in Australia forever.
He denied it was linked to the Vaikunta scandal or attempts at a takeover by billionaire James Packer.
Since Vaikunta quit, the board has rolled chairman John Story in favour of John O’Neill, another non-executive director Brett Paton left this week and now Mr Mullin is departing.

Brooklyn, Barclays Center bracing to steal show...

Consider Madison Square Garden on watch.
Luring the Nets from New Jersey was only Step 1 in Brooklyn's metamorphosis into an entertainment hot spot. Next up for the borough, a ruthless bid in stealing the spotlight and the stars from MSG, New Jersey's Prudential Center, and any other venue that books boldface names in music and sports.
There's a new kid in town, folks, a state-of-the-art arena in Brooklyn that is gobbling up acts at an alarming rate.
Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Andrea Bocelli are just a few of the marquee attractions coming to the new Barclays Center, a facility that will house the NBA's Brooklyn Nets and so much more.
College basketball is on the way, as are the Harlem Globetrotters and World Wrestling Entertainment, and before the lockout was announced, an NHL preseason game was even on tap. Indeed, it appears Barclays has balance and boom in its acts, and will stop at nothing as it quickly makes a sudden statement that it is a desired destination in an attractive borough.
And the other facilities in and around New York may never be the same again.
"In the past, Brooklynites had to leave our borough for world-class entertainment and sports and head over to Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Nassau County ... Newark or East Rutherford," Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said. "Hello. Not anymore."
Brooklyn is going hard and if this current clip keeps up, it may become the No. 1 tour stop in the region. Jay-Z, the Nets' part owner and hip-hop icon, will christen the Barclays Center with eight sold-out shows opening Friday. Holla!
"Without Brooklyn, I wouldn't be standing here right now," Jay-Z said at a Barclays Center press conference.
He's not alone. Barbra Streisand, a Brooklyn native like Jay-Z, will perform for the first time in her native borough Oct. 11.
These megastar acts will raise the curtain on what Barclays expects to become a 220-event-a-year center, and create a little competition with the world's most famous arena. The budding Barclays-MSG bidding war, in fact, is already more heated than the Knicks-Nets rivalry.
The Golden Gloves finals dumped MSG for the first time in its 86-year history for the 19,000-seat Barclays. Bocelli had played nine straight holiday shows at MSG before bolting this year for a Dec. 5 concert at Barclays.
Other defections from MSG and New Jersey arenas include college basketball's Coaches vs. Cancer tournament, the Legends Classic and the Atlantic 10 tournament.
But without question, none of the other facilities are intimidated by Brooklyn. This is after all, the New York market we're talking about, and there will always be plenty of acts to book.
Robert Sommer, president of Rock Entertainment Management at the Prudential Center, declined comment. And MSG insists it doesn't feel threatened by the younger, hipper arena at all.
"While we always respect any competition, The Garden will always be The Garden," MSG President and CEO Hank Ratner said. "Madison Square Garden is located in the heart of New York City, sitting on top of the busiest transportation hub in the nation, and has been a destination for New Yorkers and visitors to the city for over 130 years. The Garden is New York's living room, we host over 400 events annually, and are in the midst of a comprehensive, top-to-bottom transformation that has already received amazing feedback from fans."
The world's most famous arena underwent an $850 million upgrade that gutted the arena from the ground up — all without changing the building's familiar hatbox-shaped exterior. Madison Square Garden was completed in 1968 and had not had a major upgrade since 1991.
And, let's not forget, the Garden is the Garden.
There's no price tag, after all, on the legendary sports moments and the iconic concerts that called MSG home. Ali vs. Frazier. Willis Reed limping through the tunnel and onto the court for the 1970 NBA Finals. Mark Messier and Stephane Matteau leading the Rangers to the Stanley Cup in 1994. Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen rocking the joint. Ricky Nelson's Garden Party.
On and on.
"You can bring a new venue into another borough, but you can't erase history," said Sammy Steinlight, a former MSG executive, now of Steinlight Media. "You can't just instantly have a brand. It takes time, it takes years. It takes really special and unique moments created over time."
Barclays is trying to speed up the pace. Yet, not every act is choosing only one stage.
The Who is booked to play Nov. 14 at Barclays, Dec. 5 at Madison Square Garden, and Dec. 6 at the five-year-old Prudential Center in Newark. While WWE remained committed to booking events at Madison Square Garden, the WWE's own Brooklyn Brawler should feel at home when the sports-entertainment promotion holds its monthly pay-per-view event Dec. 16 at Barclays.
There are plenty of entertainment dollars to spread around, of course. Brooklyn's population of 2.5 million is the largest of the city's five boroughs, and is home to $3 million condominiums and four-star restaurants. The New York metropolitan area is so massive, there should be enough acts and dates for both.
Barclays' honeymoon period will eventually fade. But for now, business should boom — especially with top tickets hitting $600 for Streisand at face value.
"Because the building is new, artists know the level of business they can do is higher at a brand new building," said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the trade publication Pollstar. "The fact that it's new on the market means that the local population will turn out in great numbers, great force than you would otherwise see. That means more money in the artist's pocket."
In a bustling market, the two arenas should be able to play nice. But bidding wars could spark for the top-dollar stars.
The Minneapolis Target Center and the St. Paul Xcel Energy Center are separated by 10 miles from one Twin City to the other. The buildings regularly fiercely compete to land selected artists, a boon for concert promoters looking to keep down costs.
"Concert promoters are certainly aware of the two buildings and they'll often bid the two buildings against each other," said Jeff Pellegrom, chief financial officer of Minnesota Sports and Entertainment, the company that runs the Xcel Center. "They'll lock or hold dates in the two different arenas and then they'll look for the best financial deal they can get. I don't blame them for this, by the way. It makes perfect sense."
The Nets, the vibrant arena's anchor tenant, are focused on settling into their sparkling $1 billion digs and not the calendar of events at Madison Square Garden.
"We don't concern ourselves with being better than what they do or what the Garden does," Nets general manager Billy King said. "We have a new building and we're excited about being there."
So, it seems, is the rest of the entertainment industry. (MSG)

The award follows PartyPoker's EGR Poker Operator Of The Year and PartyGaming also made the shortlist for EGR Operator Of The Year. Recently PartyGaming's PartyPoker.com also won the Casino News Media "Online Poker Website Of The Month".

The Media Man - Casino News Media accolade is based on a combination of elements including user experience, innovation, trustworthiness, customer service, gameplay, affiliate program offerings, newsworthiness and company values.

PartyCasino.com is one of a number of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment brands.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include Heist, Circus, Rambo, Palladium Slot, The Godfather, Sinatra, Slotbox, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mission: Impossible, The Terminator, Cleopatra, Sinatra, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Monopoly, Resident Evil, Melon Madness, Wheel Of Fortune and Mega Fortune Wheel.

The PartyCasino.com jackpot is currently approaching the $6 million mark. Players can also compete for The Big One and Marvel Hero Jackpot, playing the Marvel super hero themed online slot games.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Co-CEO Jim Ryan has gone on record advising PartyCasinowill soon feature more Hollywood blockbuster themed slots. A few in the know journalists and media agents have been recently tipped off that an all time classic movie adaption will be showcased in the PartyCasino portfolio within 1 month. PartyCasino has the world's most impressive line up of Hollywood themed games, and more are just around the corner.

PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com customers can also benefit from rewards and bonuses via PartyPoints and the Palladium Lounge. Be certain to check out the PartyCasino exclusive "Cash Machine" that is being championed as one of the greatest online casino promos ever.

Partnership formed with Nordeus to develop a social sports betting application

bwin.party has today announced a further step forward in the execution of our social gaming strategy with the signing of an agreement with Nordeus, the award-winning social gaming company, to develop initially a social sports betting application.

Having launched a new business unit called Win to drive our social gaming initiatives in May 2012, finding the right partner to help us exploit our strong presence in real money sports betting has been a key area of focus.

Founded in March 2010 by ex-Microsoft engineers Branko Milutinovic, Ivan Stojisavljevic and Milan Jovovic, Nordeus has established itself as the market leader in social sports games. The company's Top Eleven football management social game consistently features in the Top 25 list of games by daily average users on Facebook.

Top Eleven is the most-played online sports game in the World with more than 6 million monthly active users and 2 million daily active users on Web, Android and iOS devices. In addition to its popularity on Facebook, the Top Eleven game is available on Odnoklassniki, a Russian social network with more than 100 million users.

Nordeus was voted The Best Gaming Startup at the Europas Awards 2011 and was chosen as one of the 25 hi-tech European companies with 'most potential and successful outcome' by the European Tech Tour Association.

Norbert Teufelberger, Co-CEO of bwin.party, said: "Nordeus has demonstrated that there is great demand for social sports games around the world through its Top Eleven game. We will leverage our unrivalled sports brand and products as well as our online betting and gaming expertise.
Nordeus and bwin.party are two European companies with global footprints and share an aspiration to become clear leaders in social sports gaming."

Branko Milutinovic, CEO of Nordeus, said: "Following the successful release of Top Eleven, we recognised a huge opportunity for social sports betting games based on the feedback from millions of our customers. Since then, we have been seeking the right partner and we are thrilled to have an opportunity to work with bwin.party, market leader in online sports betting and one of the most known brands in sports.

"With Top Eleven, we have proven that our unique approach in social games design is highly engaging and successful. With that in mind, we are convinced that leveraging our development experience in combination with bwin.party's expertise in real-money betting will lead to a highly successful title and establish our companies as the leaders in social sports gaming."

About bwin.party:

bwin.party digital entertainment plc (LSE: BPTY) is a global online gaming company, formed from the merger of bwin Interactive Entertainment AG and PartyGaming Plc on 31 March 2011. Incorporated, licensed and regulated in Gibraltar, the Group also has licences in France, Italy, Spain and Denmark. With offices in Europe, India, Israel and the US, the Group generated total pro forma revenue of €816.0m and pro forma Clean EBITDA of €199.3m in 2011. bwin.party commands leading market positions in each of its four key product verticals: online sports betting, poker, casino and bingo with some of the world's biggest online gaming brands including bwin, PartyPoker, PartyCasino and Foxy Bingo. The Group's scale, technology and strong portfolioof games collectively differentiate its customer offer from those of its competitors. bwin.party is a constituent member of the FTSE 250 Index and the FTSE4 Good Index Series, which identifies companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards.

About Nordeus:

Nordeus, located in Belgrade in Serbia, is one of the leading and award winning European game development companies and officially the best European gaming startup of 2011. Its Top Eleven game, with more than 6 million monthly active users and 2 million daily active users on Web, Android and iOS devices, is the most played online sports game in the World. Nordeus' goal is to provide a seamless gaming experience to millions of people no matter what device they are using. Quite simply they make social games that are free and accessible to play on any device. Every day its team in Belgrade puts all of its talent into making 5-star games. Every day millions of people enjoy what they have created.

News

Nordeus partnership for bwin.party...

The world’s largest listed online gambling operator, bwin.party digital entertainment, has signed a deal that will see it develop a social sportsbetting application in partnership with Serbian firm Nordeus.

Following the launch of its bespoke Win business unit in May, bwin.party stated that the agreement is a ‘further step forward’ in the execution of its ‘social gaming strategy’ as it looks to capitalise on its ‘strong presence in real-money sportsbetting’.

“Nordeus has demonstrated that there is great demand for social sports games around the world through its Top Eleven game,” said Norbert Teufelberger, Co-Chief Executive Officer for bwin.party.

“We will leverage our unrivalled sports brand and products as well as our online betting and gaming expertise. Nordeus and bwin.party are two European companies with global footprints and share an aspiration to become clear leaders in social sports gaming.”

Based in Belgrade, Nordeus was established in March of 2010 by former Microsoft engineers Branko Milutinovic, Ivan Stojisavljevic and Milan Jovovic and concentrates on the development of social sports games. Its Top Eleven title is now one of the most-played games of its type in the world with in excess of six million monthly active users via the web and Android and iOS devices.

“Following the successful release of Top Eleven, we recognised a huge opportunity for social sportsbetting games based on the feedback from millions of our customers,” said Milutinovic, Chief Executive Officer for Nordeus.

“Since then, we have been seeking the right partner and we are thrilled to have an opportunity to work with bwin.party, a market-leader in online sportsbetting and one of the most known brands in sports.

"With Top Eleven, we have proven that our unique approach in social games design is highly engaging and successful. With that in mind, we are convinced that leveraging our development experience in combination with bwin.party’s expertise in real-money betting will lead to a highly successful title and establish our companies as the leaders in social sports gaming."

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, the giant online gambling king, released its financial figures for the first half of 2012, showing a significant rise in overall profits and revenue, despite the fact that its online poker arm did not perform strongly.
Bwin.Party's revenues grew 3% to €410 million, in comparison to the €398 million recorded in the same period last year, while Net profit climbed dramatically from €81.9 million last year to €92.3 million in the first half of 2012.
Other figures released by Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment included:
A rise in revenues for Bwin's sports betting arm from €125.7 million in 2011 to €128.1 million in 2012.
A rise in casino revenues from 2011's €124.3 million to this year's €139.7 million.
A drop in bingo revenue from €33 million in 2011 to €31.5 million in 2012.
A drop in poker revenue from €104.9 million in 2011 to €96.5 million in the first half of this year.
Spain Remains a Challenging Market
Despite Bwin.Party profit increases, the group made a challenging entry into the Spanish gambling market earlier this year, beginning with a €31.5 million one-off payment to the Spanish government for back taxes.
The group said in its statement: "The Spanish tax authority contacted all of the major online gaming operators and made clear that, in their opinion, any online operators that has ever accepted customers from Spain has an obligation to pay Spanish taxes under two laws, one dating from 1966 and the other from 1977."
While Bwin.Party was eventually awarded a license to operate in Spain, the group's Chief Financial Officer, Martin Weigold confirmed that the group is still finding the market challenging because of the tough recession which has hit the region. He also conceded that Bwin.Party was finding the Italian market difficult to break into for the same reason. Australia and New Zealand remain on the radar, but would not be drawn into specifics.
Focus on Online Poker...
Bwin's co-chief executive officers, Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger spoke about the group's online poker offering which amounted to the weakest performance in the first half of the year.
"Poker is a key area of focus and we are determined to return it to growth through execution of a detailed plan that includes pooling our poker liquidity as well as repositioning our flagship PartyPoker brand," they said in a joint statement.
"We expect both initiatives to have a positive impact on our performance, along with our recently launched FastForward Poker product."

The award follows PartyPoker's EGR Poker Operator Of The Year and PartyGaming also made the shortlist for EGR Operator Of The Year. Recently PartyGaming's PartyPoker.com also won the Casino News Media "Online Poker Website Of The Month".

The Media Man - Casino News Media accolade is based on a combination of elements including user experience, innovation, trustworthiness, customer service, gameplay, affiliate program offerings, newsworthiness and company values.

PartyCasino.com is one of a number of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment brands.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include Heist, Circus, Rambo, Palladium Slot, The Godfather, Sinatra, Slotbox, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mission: Impossible, The Terminator, Cleopatra, Sinatra, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Monopoly, Resident Evil, Melon Madness, Wheel Of Fortune and Mega Fortune Wheel.

The PartyCasino.com jackpot is currently approaching the $6 million mark. Players can also compete for The Big One and Marvel Hero Jackpot, playing the Marvel super hero themed online slot games.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Co-CEO Jim Ryan has gone on record advising PartyCasinowill soon feature more Hollywood blockbuster themed slots. A few in the know journalists and media agents have been recently tipped off that an all time classic movie adaption will be showcased in the PartyCasino portfolio within 1 month. PartyCasino has the world's most impressive line up of Hollywood themed games, and more are just around the corner.

PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com customers can also benefit from rewards and bonuses via PartyPoints and the Palladium Lounge. Be certain to check out the PartyCasino exclusive "Cash Machine" that is being championed as one of the greatest online casino promos ever.

The award follows PartyPoker's EGR Poker Operator Of The Year and PartyGaming also made the shortlist for EGR Operator Of The Year. Recently PartyGaming's PartyPoker.com also won the Casino News Media "Online Poker Website Of The Month".

The Media Man - Casino News Media accolade is based on a combination of elements including user experience, innovation, trustworthiness, customer service, gameplay, affiliate program offerings, newsworthiness and company values.

PartyCasino.com is one of a number of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment brands.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include Heist, Circus, Rambo, Palladium Slot, The Godfather, Sinatra, Slotbox, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mission: Impossible, The Terminator, Cleopatra, Sinatra, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Monopoly, Resident Evil, Melon Madness, Wheel Of Fortune and Mega Fortune Wheel.

The PartyCasino.com jackpot is currently approaching the $6 million mark. Players can also compete for The Big One and Marvel Hero Jackpot, playing the Marvel super hero themed online slot games.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Co-CEO Jim Ryan has gone on record advising PartyCasinowill soon feature more Hollywood blockbuster themed slots. A few in the know journalists and media agents have been recently tipped off that an all time classic movie adaption will be showcased in the PartyCasino portfolio within 1 month. PartyCasino has the world's most impressive line up of Hollywood themed games, and more are just around the corner.

PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com customers can also benefit from rewards and bonuses via PartyPoints and the Palladium Lounge. Be certain to check out the PartyCasino exclusive "Cash Machine" that is being championed as one of the greatest online casino promos ever.

Partnership formed with Nordeus to develop a social sports betting application

bwin.party has today announced a further step forward in the execution of our social gaming strategy with the signing of an agreement with Nordeus, the award-winning social gaming company, to develop initially a social sports betting application.

Having launched a new business unit called Win to drive our social gaming initiatives in May 2012, finding the right partner to help us exploit our strong presence in real money sports betting has been a key area of focus.

Founded in March 2010 by ex-Microsoft engineers Branko Milutinovic, Ivan Stojisavljevic and Milan Jovovic, Nordeus has established itself as the market leader in social sports games. The company's Top Eleven football management social game consistently features in the Top 25 list of games by daily average users on Facebook.

Top Eleven is the most-played online sports game in the World with more than 6 million monthly active users and 2 million daily active users on Web, Android and iOS devices. In addition to its popularity on Facebook, the Top Eleven game is available on Odnoklassniki, a Russian social network with more than 100 million users.

Nordeus was voted The Best Gaming Startup at the Europas Awards 2011 and was chosen as one of the 25 hi-tech European companies with 'most potential and successful outcome' by the European Tech Tour Association.

Norbert Teufelberger, Co-CEO of bwin.party, said: "Nordeus has demonstrated that there is great demand for social sports games around the world through its Top Eleven game. We will leverage our unrivalled sports brand and products as well as our online betting and gaming expertise.
Nordeus and bwin.party are two European companies with global footprints and share an aspiration to become clear leaders in social sports gaming."

Branko Milutinovic, CEO of Nordeus, said: "Following the successful release of Top Eleven, we recognised a huge opportunity for social sports betting games based on the feedback from millions of our customers. Since then, we have been seeking the right partner and we are thrilled to have an opportunity to work with bwin.party, market leader in online sports betting and one of the most known brands in sports.

"With Top Eleven, we have proven that our unique approach in social games design is highly engaging and successful. With that in mind, we are convinced that leveraging our development experience in combination with bwin.party's expertise in real-money betting will lead to a highly successful title and establish our companies as the leaders in social sports gaming."

About bwin.party:

bwin.party digital entertainment plc (LSE: BPTY) is a global online gaming company, formed from the merger of bwin Interactive Entertainment AG and PartyGaming Plc on 31 March 2011. Incorporated, licensed and regulated in Gibraltar, the Group also has licences in France, Italy, Spain and Denmark. With offices in Europe, India, Israel and the US, the Group generated total pro forma revenue of €816.0m and pro forma Clean EBITDA of €199.3m in 2011. bwin.party commands leading market positions in each of its four key product verticals: online sports betting, poker, casino and bingo with some of the world's biggest online gaming brands including bwin, PartyPoker, PartyCasino and Foxy Bingo. The Group's scale, technology and strong portfolioof games collectively differentiate its customer offer from those of its competitors. bwin.party is a constituent member of the FTSE 250 Index and the FTSE4 Good Index Series, which identifies companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards.

About Nordeus:

Nordeus, located in Belgrade in Serbia, is one of the leading and award winning European game development companies and officially the best European gaming startup of 2011. Its Top Eleven game, with more than 6 million monthly active users and 2 million daily active users on Web, Android and iOS devices, is the most played online sports game in the World. Nordeus' goal is to provide a seamless gaming experience to millions of people no matter what device they are using. Quite simply they make social games that are free and accessible to play on any device. Every day its team in Belgrade puts all of its talent into making 5-star games. Every day millions of people enjoy what they have created.

News

Nordeus partnership for bwin.party...

The world’s largest listed online gambling operator, bwin.party digital entertainment, has signed a deal that will see it develop a social sportsbetting application in partnership with Serbian firm Nordeus.

Following the launch of its bespoke Win business unit in May, bwin.party stated that the agreement is a ‘further step forward’ in the execution of its ‘social gaming strategy’ as it looks to capitalise on its ‘strong presence in real-money sportsbetting’.

“Nordeus has demonstrated that there is great demand for social sports games around the world through its Top Eleven game,” said Norbert Teufelberger, Co-Chief Executive Officer for bwin.party.

“We will leverage our unrivalled sports brand and products as well as our online betting and gaming expertise. Nordeus and bwin.party are two European companies with global footprints and share an aspiration to become clear leaders in social sports gaming.”

Based in Belgrade, Nordeus was established in March of 2010 by former Microsoft engineers Branko Milutinovic, Ivan Stojisavljevic and Milan Jovovic and concentrates on the development of social sports games. Its Top Eleven title is now one of the most-played games of its type in the world with in excess of six million monthly active users via the web and Android and iOS devices.

“Following the successful release of Top Eleven, we recognised a huge opportunity for social sportsbetting games based on the feedback from millions of our customers,” said Milutinovic, Chief Executive Officer for Nordeus.

“Since then, we have been seeking the right partner and we are thrilled to have an opportunity to work with bwin.party, a market-leader in online sportsbetting and one of the most known brands in sports.

"With Top Eleven, we have proven that our unique approach in social games design is highly engaging and successful. With that in mind, we are convinced that leveraging our development experience in combination with bwin.party’s expertise in real-money betting will lead to a highly successful title and establish our companies as the leaders in social sports gaming."